Bragging Monday

[asterroc]

Just saw a nice set of slides about Impostor Syndrome, and per the suggestion of a slide therein, let's celebrate Monday today (or maybe Tuesday by the time people read this) by bragging about ourselves.

Overcoming Impostor Syndrome from dreamwidth

What's one thing you've done lately that you're proud of?

I want us all to see them all, but feel free to post anonymously.

Here's mine
I was really afraid about a programming class I'm taking this semester. We had a "HW 0" due Saturday, and I not only managed to finish it, but I finished it early (Friday afternoon)! Even better, I got the feedback this afternoon, and the prof gushed compliments! :)

Originally posted on Dreamwidth. comments there. Comment here or there.

Comments

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I know this is probably silly, but I am so proud at how well I am doing geometry after not looking at it since high school. I was given a basic refresher and passed the test with an 86. For someone who has struggled with math their entire life this is a huge win. Especially since at least 3 of my coworkers failed it 2x each.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Awesome! So many people are afraid of math, it always makes me happy when it proves to be unnecessary. :) Do you actually use geometry in your current job?

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I think part of it was just facing the fear and realizing that I can do it if I am not afraid of it.
Also, watching my children I can very vividly see that learning is not linear and I really believe that sometimes the brain needs time to digest what it has learned before it can be applied.

Yes, to some degree. Stuff like knowing how many squares are on a roof (any form of 100sq ft) and being able to verify contractors bills are correct.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

sometimes the brain needs time to digest what it has learned before it can be applied

Yeah, I think that's one part (out of many) of why I'm succeeding at programming now when I borderline failed at it my first time in grad school. Plus I have more life experience so I know more about the purpose of programming. Plus I know better how I learn and I'm more motivated. Plus I have a great teacher now and then was a shitty teacher.

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

I started working again on an old fic and some parts of it came out really well. My girlfriend helped me a little but I took her contributions and added to and improved them.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Yay! Fic is on my to-do list, but there's just so many things I want to do and there's only so many hours in the day. Kudos to you making time for it. :)

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

Heh, well, it's not hard to find free time when you're unemployed. :-\

[jennekirby.livejournal.com]

Even though I'm like less than 20 pounds down from "morbidly obese," I ran 10 kilometers yesterday. (OK, I did walk for a short part of it, but only maybe a quarter mile of the 6.2 miles.) I am not losing weight at all, but I'm gaining muscle rapidly, and can lift more than twice what I could back in October. I'm really proud of my body, and of my willingness to keep trying when I'm not seeing the weight loss results I hoped to see (that's not the only reason I'm doing this, but it would have been the biggest metric for me once upon a time).

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I saw your tweets about jogging. I'm attempting to go to Zumba classes twice a week this semester, but I'm not up to speed yet due to recovering from a cold. Same as you, that weight loss isn't my main reason (but it wouldn't hurt!). I'm not yet at a place where I'm proud of the effect, but I know it's important that I keep exercising, and attempting to exercise when I fall off the wagon. :-P

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I think this is super awesome!


I might be thin, but I can't run up a flight of stairs without being out of breath, pulling my #30 bow for 20 minutes 1x a week leaves me sore for days. I might be thin, but I am not healthy.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I might be thin, but I am not healthy.

That's something I've been telling people for years, and now I'm starting to edge out of "thin"! (I'm having difficulty fitting into some of my size 10 pants. I am however still a size 4 on top, WTH?!) Watching my parents age ungracefully is my main motivation for exercise - they are unwilling to change their habits, and I'd rather attempt to change mine now than get to where they're at. It's better to start good habits early, and if I'm lucky I won't get to their current health state, and even if I do then having started changing habits earlier I'll be more likely to be able to do more change then.

[cosmicwonder.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this slideshow. I've been having a tough time the last couple weeks, and I can see that imposter syndrome is playing a huge role in it.

Anyway. My recent big accomplishment was quitting temp work so I could focus full-time on working towards a career in instructional design. It took a lot of guts to leave something that was somewhat stable, but would probably lead to a job that wouldn't contribute towards the life I want.

Great job on your programming assignment!

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

It took a lot of guts to leave something that was somewhat stable, but would probably lead to a job that wouldn't contribute towards the life I want.

I agree, but we need to do what will make us happy with who we are. :)

[calzephyr77.livejournal.com]

I'll always be the pretend receptionist ;-)

I can see you excelling at a programming course because you seem to think in a very ordered way. What language is it? There are two schools of thought on learning programming - hard or soft mastery (Sheri Turkle has a great chapter in this in her book Life on the Screen).

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

My first time in grad school I was thrown into a math methods course that assumed everyone already knew how to program, and the prof said he wouldn't look at anyone's code. I didn't already know how to program and expressed this to the prof, but he still refused to help me with my code. Despite taking an incomplete and finishing it over the summer, I still almost failed the course, and it was my lowest graduate course grade.

We are programming in IDL. I'm doing a lot better now than I did then, partially b/c this course is actually teaching programming, partially just from more exposure over time, and partially from better work habits now (I started boning up on this language over Winter Break). I'm just starting to understand the difference between a function, pro... (-cedure? -gram? not sure in this language, all we ever write is just "pro"), and just a batch file, and when to use which and what they do. That's a *really* important idea in programming, so I'm glad it's starting to make sense to me.